Mariners Play Small Ball, Choose Bean Counter as President

Exciting news out of the Seattle Mariners’ front office today: The struggling ballclub has decided on a team president whose passion is accounting and risk insurance.

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Sportspress Northwest is reporting that according to sources, including Mariners’ beat writer Geoff Baker in The Seattle Times, the Mariners chose to promote Kevin Mather, the club’s executive vice-president of finance and ballpark operations, to team president, replacing the retiring Chuck Armstrong.

Mather has been part of the Mariners organization since 1996 and took over finance and ballpark responsibilities in 1999.

For weeks, the Mariners, who lost 91 games last season and 87 the year before, were thought to be seriously considering former manager Tony La Russa, soon-to-be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Instead, the team went with a guy whose most recent responsibilities included accounting and financial reporting, ticket and technology services, concessions, and the day-to-day operations of Safeco Field. He also oversaw the Mariners five team stores, as well as non-baseball events at the ballpark.

A Wisconsin native, Mather came to the Mariners, notes Sportspress NW, after serving as VP of Finance for the Minnesota Twins for more than four years. Before his career in baseball, Mather was with the certified public accounting firm of Delotte, Haskins & Sells.